All Forum Posts by: Matt Bishop

@Justin Pudenz, I think the electrician should provide his own materials, not you. 15 spaces is too many for a 100 Amp panel. I would go to a 150, 200 or 300A.

@James Bartlett, yes if you can get approved for the loan and you make all the mortgage payments. No one will know or care. When you sign the closing documents you may be required to sign a paper that states you "intend" to use this as your primary residence. I've done this with my VA loan more than once. If you default, the government agency backing the loan may contend you never intended to live there, hard to prove, and you may not have all the default protections an owner / occupied loan has. If things go really bad, you may have to cover any shortage to keep the fed quiet.

@Winter Heintz, my worst tenant experience was years ago, before I got wise and engaged the services of a fantastic property manager. Each bad experience drove me to get wise and hire a pro. It actually nets me more money after fees than doing it all, myself.

@Kim Huynh, get a better property manager, a real professional. Get the absolute best property manager in the county. This should have all been professionally, expertly and legally handled without bothering you. If you had this type of property manager, they would have already created the atmosphere of extremely high standards where tenants know what kind of behavior is absolutely required and this would have never happened in the first place.

@Winter Heintz, maybe hire a professional property manager and let them do what they do best. The tenant has no reason to know you are the owner. Let them assume you are renting from the same property manager. You can then enjoy your home and privacy.

I don't see how anyone could be in a negative equity situation over the last ten years. Prices have been rising, rents have been rising, employment and wages have been rising, strict qualification requirements.  Do houses go into foreclosure when the owner has equity?  Why would this happen?  Are there people who would just stop making their payments and surrender the property rather than go through the traditional sale process? Plus, with a ready supply of cash flush investors who flooding every mailbox and calling me constantly every day with immediate purchase offers, everybody has to know they have other options better than foreclosure. I can see two possible situations:

1.  The owner dies or becomes otherwise incapacitated

2. The owner becomes financially incapable of making the payment and ignores the situation until it becomes an emotional crisis for them and they won't acknowledge the situation and solve it. 

@Alicia Marks, no foreclosures in Texas.

@Kit Elliott, it seems like the wealthiest people, the ones who pay the taxes are leaving California and the only ones left will be the ones who rely on government assistance and public housing. I don't see how this could work, long term.

@Duncan Van Horn, I strongly recommend that you engage a professional property manager, find the absolute premier manager in the area.

@William Anderson, what about hiring a professional property manager right away and instruct them to set the rent rates, collect rents and manage the property to bring you the absolute top income the property can yield. You are the owner, not the employee.